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Projects Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

  1. Weekly update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hello all,

    Here are my updates from last week:

    • Battery recycling information in the iCAP portal has been updated to reflect the change from the dual rechargeable/single-use recycling program to the unified program offered through Call2Recycle. I have a note out to Morgan and Joy to double-check accuracy.
    • I’m continuing work on the glove recycling program materials. I got answers to questions I sent to Fisher and now await answers from Kimberly Clark.
    • As you know, CRI’s new owner (Midwest Fiber) does not offer glass-only recycling pickup service. I have to call and/or email them to see if they will continue to accept drop-offs. I have also started calling local waste haulers and recyclers to see if any of them offer glass recycling pickup or drop-off. I have contacted 4 so far; 2 do not offer service, and 2 are seeking more information and will call me back. I have 8 more on my list to call. I will also look into what other campuses in Central Illinois are doing to manage that part of the waste stream.
    • I referred the Ashton Woods resident who is wanting expanded recycling service to Joe Glass at Housing, per your recommendation.

    Sincerely,

    Marya Ryan

    Zero Waste Coordinator

  2. Most of the planting complete

    Associated Project(s): 
    LAR Native Plants

    This project is ongoing, but all milestones in the SSC grant request have been met. Purchases of additional plants were made in multiple batches, and they have been added to beds on the south, east, and north sides of LAR in addition to the shared courtyard between LAR and Allen Hall. There are a few plants that still need to be planted, but most are in the ground at this time.

     

  3. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was fairly busy. We had a few days wherein there was extended waiting times for free stands. We had been averaging about 100 people in the space per week but this week we were at 117, and I’m sure there were half a dozen who we missed. As it nears the Great Student Migration we’ll see more and more visitors.

    Sales: Overall: $1,661.20; refurbished bikes: 6 for $860; Build-a-Bikes: 2 for $220; memberships: 4 for $120; tire/tubes (new and used): 20 for $117.

    On Friday a Bike Project volunteer and I went to the warehouse and picked up about 20 bikes for refurbishment, 3 of which were Neutral Cycle rental bikes that were mistakenly confiscated. I coordinated with their manager to return them. As I was leaving the warehouse two college-aged kids walked up asking if they could “get a bike for $10”. It was a little suspicious.

    This week I will process and hopefully build up a lot of the bikes we pulled from the warehouse. With more and more people returning to campus, demand for bikes is ramping up. On the one hand, when we are low on for-sale bikes, it curbs the entitled customer corporate/retail space idea that a lot of people have when they come here. On the other hand, less bikes available for people who want to ride is definitely a bad thing.

    I plan to deactivate our “One Free Visit For One Small Repair” policy this week, as demand for stands and space is approaching its yearly zenith. This was successful last year and was agreed upon at the last Bike Project meeting. I’ll reinstate One Free Visit sometime in October when we are no longer operating beyond capacity.

    Sincerely,

    - Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  4. Weekly update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hello all,

    This past week, I

    • Attended a CURC webinar on how to engage more participation in campus recycling programs.
    • Drafted material to promote the glove recycling program, which is with Morgan and Anna. There is a lot of missing information, so this coming week, I will contact Kimberly-Clark and Fisher representatives to start filling it in.

    Sincerely,

    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

     

  5. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was pretty relaxed. We only had 87 visitors into the space. Our sales were: $1,072 (overall); refurbed bikes: 5 for $640; memberships: 5 for $150; tires/tubes (new & used): 9 for $38.

    This week I have a meeting with a prospective student employee. I will also scrap the deluge of bikes that have been donated. Last week we received at least a dozen junk frames/broken bikes. A rare few of these bikes are salvageable, unfortunately. I will build bikes and continue to organize, clean, and otherwise prepare for the deluge of returning students in the coming weeks.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  6. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was slow at the beginning every day of the week but by around 4pm things would pick up drastically and we’d be “All Stands Full” for the last hour or so. I used to blame the uptick around 4pm on class schedules but it’s summer so now I have no idea why we get busier then.

    Visitors count was at 100 even (for the second week in a row, I believe).

    Total sales: $1,363.10; refurbished bike sales: 3 for $430; Build-a-Bikes: 3 for $250; memberships: 11 for $330; consumables (cables/housing, tires/tubes): 27 between the four of those, totaling $85.10.

    Last week was the conclusion of having Kameron, the high school student, helping here at the CBC. He really warmed up to being here, I think (or so I tell myself) and was much more comfortable organizing and sorting small esoteric bike parts than doing anything bigger like stripping or building up bicycles.

    On  Friday I made a bike run to the warehouse and picked up 10 bikes. I saw a great number of decent and capable commuter bikes, dotted amongst the majority of WalMart-level junk. It was good to get an injection of new bike blood into the crop of bikes available here.

    I also put the final touches on the ECS bike share bikes and outfitted them with baskets.

    This week I will process and build some of the new bikes as demand for for-sale bikes is increasing. I have begun to hear back from returning student staffers about possible scheduling, which is helpful, so I will continue to plan for that.  

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  7. Update from Joy Scrogum

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Gadget Garage

    Hello colleagues. I wanted to take a moment to give you an update on the Illini Gadget Garage (IGG) project and alert you to some upcoming events which may be of interest.

    First of all, tomorrow, Tuesday August 1, we’re hosting a group laptop teardown activity from 10:15am-1:00pm. This event is for those who may be curious about/interested in the sort of “do-it-together” repair that is conducted at the IGG, but who feel a bit hesitant to try because of lack of experience, or because they fear they’ll cause further damage to their own device. We have a limited number of matching laptops that were donated as “practice” devices which we’ll be using to lead folks through the process of dismantling. This provides experience with using tools and with opening up an electronic device, so that individuals can feel empowered and more confident about opening a device in the future which may actually need repair. Space is limited, but we do have some seats still available. Sign up at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2JdR7XrJepD16fcJDOM_67D22OaYlbgT1C7ddnrGaLY_dCA/viewform. If there is high demand, we’ll potentially hold a similar event in the near future. The workshop is free, though donations are welcome and can be made at http://www.sustainelectronics.illinois.edu/SEIdonation.html.

    Also, we’ll be hosting a screening of Death by Design, a documentary on the impacts of electronic devices on the environment and human health. The screening will take place on August 22 at the Champaign Public Library. After the film, I will facilitate a discussion/Q&A session featuring Industrial Design Professor William Bullock and Urbana U-Cycle Coordinator and Illinois Product Stewardship Council member Courtney Kwong as expert panelists. See http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/ilgadgetgarage/2017/07/25/death-by-design-screening-august-22-at-champaign-public-library/ for further information, including a trailer for the film. This is also a free event, with donations suggested and welcome to support future programming.

    If you missed last week’s webinar, “What the Tech? Learn Basic Electronic Component Function,” an archived recording and slides are available on our project web site at http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/ilgadgetgarage/archived-webinars/.

    We’ll also have booths at Quad Day and the Taste of Champaign next month, as well as having project flyers distributed by our friends at the City of Urbana during the Urbana Sweetcorn Festival. So hopefully we’ll see a new wave of potential volunteers and clients coming to our workshop to learn about ways to keep their products in service longer, and out of the waste stream.

    We’re currently seeking sponsors to help keep our services free to the campus community, and to allow us to offer free-to-the public pop-ups in the broader, off-campus CU area. Additionally, we are offering a new “employee engagement event” service for businesses and organizations seeking a unique way to get their employees involved in sustainability discussions and efforts. See https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2MYVVfo5KygTXhBT1h6MXlWbzg/view for more information.

    As some of you may remember, we experienced some setbacks with being able to be open to public, as our workshop required renovation to be ADA compliant. Thus, we have only be officially open to the general public since last fall, but we’ve still managed to have a significant positive impact:

    • We've diverted a total of 320.41 lbs. of devices from the landfill (140.88 lbs. during the spring semester alone). 
    • We've recycled a total of 78 lbs. of single-use batteries (and are now offering both single-use and rechargeable battery collection).
    • We've helped over 100 people to troubleshoot/repair their devices.

    We’ve also had students involved as volunteers, participants in UI courses that have collaborated  with the IGG, and as participants in the iFixit Technical Writing Project, creating repair guides that are shared on the iFixit web site so the spirit of collaborative repair that we foster is spread beyond our campus, and even beyond our state. See the “Our Impact” portion of our web site for more information.

    If you have questions, or would like to discuss potential collaborations, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I hope to see some of you at tomorrow’s workshop and at the documentary screening on the 22nd.

    Best wishes,

    Joy

    Joy Scrogum

    Sustainability Specialist

    LEED Green Associate | ISSP-SA

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) | Prairie Research Institute

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    One Hazelwood Drive, Champaign, IL 61820

  8. Weekly update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hello all,

    Here are my updates from last week:

    • Contacted Midwest Fiber, which recently acquired CRI. CRI had quoted a price to provide glass recycling service to the Wounded Vets Center of $36-$48/month, depending on whether one or two 96-gallon toters would be needed. Midwest Fiber wants to do a site visit before giving a revised estimate. I will work this coming week to arrange it. The goal is to have service in place in a couple of weeks so that it is available when the majority of residents move in in August. I will also clarify with Nick that Wounded Vets will need to pay for the service.
    • Continued mapping the outdoor trash bins on campus as part of the project to replace them with dual recycling/trash bins.

    Sincerely,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

     

  9. Weekly update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hello all,

    Here are my updates from last week:

    • Contacted Morgan for invoicing/account information to set up glass recycling for the Wounded Vets Center, which is planned to start in mid-August.
    • Started work on mapping where trash bins are on campus. I anticipate completing the task over the next couple of weekends when I am in town.

    Best regards,


    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

     

  10. BIF Greywater Meter Recommendation - approved

    Associated Project(s): 
    BIF Greywater Pipe System
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Obtain and Publicize Water Data

    The Water and Stormwater SWATeam recommendation to install a real-time water meter on the greywater pipes in the Business Instructional Facility has been approved by F&S leadership.  This project will proceed with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee and F&S Utilities & Energy Services.

    Attached Files: 

  11. archived info - previous project description

    Associated Project(s): 
    BIF Greywater Pipe System

    The Business Instructional Facility (BIF) was designed for future use of greywater, which is raw (untreated) water. Although the building is fed from the potable water supply, there is separate piping for the urinals and water closets in the building. Utilities does not yet have a greywater system in place. When such a system becomes available, the connection in BIF that serves its fixtures can then be transferred to the greywater supply.

  12. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was abbreviated: first by the weather on Wednesday (95° was the afternoon high, so I did not have open hours for safety reasons); and then on Friday as I was out of town for my  grandmother’s funeral. We only totaled 62 visitors for the week. Sales were $368 net for the week. We didn’t sell any refurbished bikes. We sold one build-a-bike for $43; four memberships for $120; 10 tires/tubes (used/new) for $41.

    This week I plan to build more bikes, organize parts with Kameron (the high school student), and work on scheduling for the Fall semester. It projects to be very hot the tail end of the week so I will explore options and ways of trying to keep the Bike Center from being dangerously hot so we don’t have to shutter the doors again.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  13. 2009 Gable House moved

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Solar Decathlon

    Student Sustainability Committee and the School of Architecture worked with F&S to move the 2009 Solar Decathlon House from I Hotel grounds, where it was located for seven years. The house moved to the Energy Bioscience Research Farm on Race Street south of Windsor Road. The 695-square foot building, weighing more than 50,000 pounds, was designed by University of Illinois students and took second place in the U.S Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon. Since then it has been used by various campus units, who study the design and construction of the building.

  14. Promotion of source separation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Recycling Rates
    Increase Recycling through the WTS
    Encourage Use of Recycling Bins

    Content has been drafted for a PowerPoint presentation to encourage the use of separate bins for recyclables and trash. It will emphasize that separation at the point of disposal is more effective than the older system of placing all items in a single bin and will therefore help the campus meet landfill diversion targets. The presentation will be made over the summer to Campus business officers, the Staff HR Advisory Council, and student groups that can talk to other groups.

  15. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hi Tracy,

    Last week’s zero waste activities were

    • To bring the iCAP portal up to date with regard to the plans to provide glass recycling to Wounded Vets
    • Discussions with Jessica Tran from Ashton Woods about recycling at graduate student housing
    • Development of a presentation to encourage use of recycling bins

    In the coming few days, I need to check that the information on battery recycling is up to date. I updated it in one spot on the website a while ago, but during the time I was away, it became apparent that other areas had outdated information, so I need to look through and make additional updates. 

    Morgan is aware that I had intended to make headway on mapping where the outdoor bins are around campus this weekend. I will need to take that up this coming weekend instead. 

     

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  16. Glass recycling for the Wounded Vets Center

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste
    Implement Solutions for Special Recyclables

    Morgan Johnston and Marya Ryan met with Nick Osborne at the Wounded Vets’ Center on March 23 to discuss glass recycling. Anna Barnes designed a glass recycling label for use inside the Center. Ryan is following up with CRI to discuss costs, pickup schedules, and other information. Once-per-week pickup of a 96-gallon toter service is targeted to start by mid-to-late August, when new residents move into the Center. As of mid-July, a service agreement with CRI is still to be formalized and is expected in late July.

  17. High School students go on tour of Green Infrastructure at UIUC

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Infrastructure
    Sustainability Outreach
    Green Roof on the Business Instructional Facility (BIF)

    Eliana Brown with the Water Resources Center and Morgan Johnston with F&S Sustainability provided a two hour tour on July 13, 2017 to six Illinois high school students through the NRES Research Apprenticeship program. Sites visited include the BIF green roof, the Ikenberry Commons permeable pavement, the First Street underground stormwater detention basin, the "square pond" (six-story deep hole near Locust and Springfield), the Boneyard Creek, and the stormwater murals in the College of Engineering.

  18. Water001 BIF Greywater Meter recommendation - Transmittal

    Associated Project(s): 
    BIF Greywater Pipe System
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Water and Stormwater Recommendations Summary

    Following the completion of iWG assessment of Water001 BIF Greywater Meter, the recommendation was transmitted to the Facilities & Services (F&S) department on July 12, 2017.

    See iWG assessment of Water001 BIF Greywater Meter here. 

    See SWATeam recommendation Water001 BIF Greywater Meter here.

  19. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week felt on the slow side but I suspect that is a false memory, as our visitor numbers were at 102. That’s about on par for this time of year.

    Sales for the week were: $795.50 overall; one refurbed bike ($210); one B-a-B ($41); one family and three standard memberships ($155); and 21 tires/tubes ($136).  Also of note: $94 in lock sales.

    Last week I had Kameron, the high schooler, come in again. He has really taken to organizing and his efforts are paying off. The shop is overall still a mess, but the small parts are being meticulously organized which helps everyone find what they’re looking for—used parts-wise—that much faster. He will be joining me a couple days this week in the mornings as well.

    We had another Friday Community Ride organized by the student staffers. It went well; we rode to the Urbana First Friday event.

    This week I plan to process the donations we received over the weekend here, work with Kameron in the mornings on organizing and scrapping some of the junk that is cluttering up the space, and build more bikes.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  20. Weekly update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Last week’s zero-waste activity was:

    • Drafting the content for a source-separation PowerPoint presentation and send it to Morgan and Anna for review/comments
    • Discussing volume estimates with CRI and getting pricing from them for glass recycling for the Wounded Vets Center

    Sincerely,

    Marya Ryan

    Zero Waste Coordinator

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